The infamous ShinyHunters ransomware crew has added CyrusOne, a major US data center operator, to its list of victims, claiming to have stolen a treasure trove of highly sensitive data which, if proven true, could turn this into a bonafide catastrophe for the company and its customers. CyrusOne is used by Miscrosoft and Meta both.
Rebecca Moody, Head of Data Research at Comparitech:
“It’s important to distinguish between ransomware attacks and data theft with a ransom demand. ShinyHunters isn’t a traditional ransomware group, rather, it’s an extortion group that seeks to steal vast quantities of data before demanding a ransom to delete it. It doesn’t tend to use ransomware to encrypt systems.
Regardless of the type of attack on CyrusOne, it serves as a reminder that cybercriminals are continuing to seek out companies with huge datasets. Technology companies like CyrusOne are a prime example as they’ll often deal with multiple companies. Therefore, by targeting one company, hackers can access the data of multiple organizations. As well as giving them access to more data, it also gives hackers more negotiating power. Not only will the organizations be pressured into resolving the attack as quickly as possible by their clients but hackers may even start contacting the organization’s clients individually, issuing them with a ransom demand, too.”
Brian Higgins, Security Specialist at Comparitech:
“This attack is one to watch. The nature and volume of data stolen simply cannot be mitigated with backups and patches. What happens in the next couple of days could seriously set the agenda for high stakes ransomware challenges as we move into the data centre era. ShinyHunter’s frustration at the lack of engagement is clearly exposed but what that means for any next steps is anyone’s guess at this stage. If CyrusOne have a trick or two up their sleeve it will be fascinating to see them played. Otherwise the potential fallout could be catastrophic. It’s a high profile game of Cyber-chicken and if it weren’t so devastating for the tech sector it would probably make a good movie.”
This is a #fail as it gives ShinyHunters keys to the kingdom so to speak. Everyone needs to take note now and take the appropriate steps to mitigate what appears to be a substantial threat.
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This entry was posted on August 27, 2026 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Facebook, Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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ShinyHunters hackers claim to have hit data center provider used by Microsoft and Meta
The infamous ShinyHunters ransomware crew has added CyrusOne, a major US data center operator, to its list of victims, claiming to have stolen a treasure trove of highly sensitive data which, if proven true, could turn this into a bonafide catastrophe for the company and its customers. CyrusOne is used by Miscrosoft and Meta both.
Rebecca Moody, Head of Data Research at Comparitech:
“It’s important to distinguish between ransomware attacks and data theft with a ransom demand. ShinyHunters isn’t a traditional ransomware group, rather, it’s an extortion group that seeks to steal vast quantities of data before demanding a ransom to delete it. It doesn’t tend to use ransomware to encrypt systems.
Regardless of the type of attack on CyrusOne, it serves as a reminder that cybercriminals are continuing to seek out companies with huge datasets. Technology companies like CyrusOne are a prime example as they’ll often deal with multiple companies. Therefore, by targeting one company, hackers can access the data of multiple organizations. As well as giving them access to more data, it also gives hackers more negotiating power. Not only will the organizations be pressured into resolving the attack as quickly as possible by their clients but hackers may even start contacting the organization’s clients individually, issuing them with a ransom demand, too.”
Brian Higgins, Security Specialist at Comparitech:
“This attack is one to watch. The nature and volume of data stolen simply cannot be mitigated with backups and patches. What happens in the next couple of days could seriously set the agenda for high stakes ransomware challenges as we move into the data centre era. ShinyHunter’s frustration at the lack of engagement is clearly exposed but what that means for any next steps is anyone’s guess at this stage. If CyrusOne have a trick or two up their sleeve it will be fascinating to see them played. Otherwise the potential fallout could be catastrophic. It’s a high profile game of Cyber-chicken and if it weren’t so devastating for the tech sector it would probably make a good movie.”
This is a #fail as it gives ShinyHunters keys to the kingdom so to speak. Everyone needs to take note now and take the appropriate steps to mitigate what appears to be a substantial threat.
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This entry was posted on August 27, 2026 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Facebook, Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.